Interim boss Richard Wilkins rules himself out of filling the vacant manager's job at Stowmarket Town but wants to stay at the club in some capacity

Richard Wilkins has ruled himself out of taking the vacant manager’s job at Stowmarket Town but wants to still be involved in some capacity.

The former Bury Town, Leiston and Needham Market boss arrived at Greens Meadow in April 2021, being appointed as then manager Paul Musgrove’s assistant.

And after Musgrove stepped down last month, Wilkins and goalkeeping coach Nathan Munson were placed in interim charge, with the duo’s first game a 2-1 win away at Brentwood Town on Saturday.

The victory leaves Stow in sixth place in the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division table, just one point and one place outside the play-off spots and, while temporarily at the helm, Wilkins is determined to hand over to the new boss with the club back inside the top five.

“There’s lots of bits and pieces happening at Stow,” he said.

“It’s a time just to take stock a little bit and see what the hierarchy want to do. At this precise moment, it’s not a job for me. I can’t commit to the job.

“I’d like to stay at the club if possible, but the bottom line is I’ve done my management stint over the last 22 years, so I just think that someone else needs to step up to the plate.

“We’ll see when that will be and whether I’ll assist where I can for as long as I think it’s right.

“The club have got some decisions to make, but for us it’s important that we carry on getting as many points on the board as we can.

“We’re in a decent position. We’re sixth and with games in hand on quite a few teams above us. We’ve got a hell of a lot of games coming up.

“It’s going to be Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday for the whole of February. There’s a lot of points on offer and if we can get a fair few wins under our belt it would put us in the top five.

“That’s where we want to be. We want to be in the play-offs. The front two, Sudbury and Hashtag, they have done really well and they’re sort of moving away, but there is five or six teams that are vying for the play-off positions.”

Stow returned to action on Saturday with a trip to Brentwood – in a repeat of last season’s North Division play-off semi-finals.

Chris Casement put the visitors in front after 49 minutes, before Bryan Ifeanyi equalised for Brentwood on 66 minutes.

But Reggie Lambe grabbed the winner just three minutes later, with his 10th goal of the campaign, to seal all three points.

Stow host Tilbury tomorrow (3pm) ahead of visiting Hullbridge Sports on Tuesday (7.45pm).